When Life Gets Tough, a Brief Gloria Burgle Character Study
by Chinagirl18
Summary: A Gloria Burgle character study. / It's a crime that there aren't more Gloria stories.


**A/N: I wrote this a while ago while I waited at the drive-in theater to see Cars 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!**

* * *

Gloria. Gloria Burgle.

What a world it was that surrounded her.

Firstly, Gloria had a strange affinity to wrongness. She was wrong about her husband; he was actually gay. She was wrong about that one jerk police guy at the bar; he ended up being interested in her body, not her brain, and she was sure going to avoid him as best she could.

And she was wrong about how the world acknowledged her; it didn't. Not really. The men were against her, except her son, though he was bound to hate her soon enough. He was a teenager, after all. The men at the station who used to work for her, well, some respected her, but more ended up focusing on what they could do with their futures and didn't really give a crap about the once-chief's future, which seemed a little wrong to her.

But the world. More specifically, the technology was against her. That was the big one.

(Secondly.)

Or maybe it wasn't even against her. Maybe it was just...there. The technology was there. The automatic soap dispensers and the automatic water faucets were THERE, but maybe SHE wasn't there. Maybe the world's machines didn't work because she wasn't really present. Her being couldn't be detected by the modern machines meant to do the most basic tasks after taking a crap.

Maybe she wasn't her. Maybe she wasn't Gloria Burgle, soon to be ex-chief of her police unit.

But then she thought about her friends. Her son.

Her son. Gosh, her son. The light of her life. Even during this low moment in her career - maybe life - her son was why she wore those reindeer antlers on Christmas Day, sitting in front of the sparkling Christmas tree, celebrating the holiday with him. He made her happy. He made her smile when no one else out in the rest of the world could.

Well, except one more. That one being a strangely enthusiastic and naive officer. Winnie. Oh jeez, Winnie. Now SHE made Gloria laugh. She was really a one of a kind officer. A bright new spirit in the dark world of crime and death. Her happiness was so...so contagious, and Gloria felt better whenever she was working with her. Like two women against a world of disgusting, overbearing men who thought they would rock her world - literally and figuratively.

Her and Winnie. Gosh, she wanted more girlfriends. It's not like she had NO ONE. But the only one she felt truly comfortable with to talk about work, problems, her joys and sorrows. She still loved her once-spouse, even if he didn't quite love her back the same way. But he was her son's father. He was in her life for all the years that her son was alive. He freakin' GAVE her her son, and like what was mentioned before, her son was her world.

Ah, there's the world again. The one against her. Or soon to be against her. Or there...and she wasn't...there.

Oh boy.

Maybe this wasn't the time to think about the troubles in her life. Her stepfather was murdered this year. Bad, HORRIBLE murder. She wouldn't wish that on her stepfather, even if he was a bad, horrible person. No real emotional connection, other than what was obligated to him because of familial association. Still bad, though. A real unfortunate ending.

(Thirdly.)

Obligations to people to treat 'em kindly. That was a thing. Ya know, that "Minnesota nice." Sometimes she wanted to kick that "Minnesota nice" in the behind. It was a real pain in her OWN behind.

But that wasn't her. She respected others. She was for the underdog. She was for community. She was for peace, and anger and frustration would not make for a very peaceful community. She was going to do all she could to keep this community peaceful. For her son. And for her friends. And for herself so she could finally smile, REALLY smile, more than once a week.

But her days dealt with serious issues. It was her job, after all. She was determined to be right others' wrongs. And hey, she was makin' a difference. If she could save someone's life, rid the world of one other bad guy, then she would be happy to suffer a little longer.

Hm. Happy?...

Or, ya know.


End file.
